Meera Bhardwaj:
With human-wildlife conflict rising acutely in Karnataka, the death of big carnivores, mega-herbivores and of course, humans have been rising year after year. If tigers, leopards have been caught up in snares, hunted and also poisoned, elephants too have borne the brunt of human anger – being caught in illegal electric fencing around farm fields.
Between October 2025 and April 10, 2026, 15 tigers have either been electrocuted, hacked to pieces or poisoned in revenge killings or caught in snares installed on the fringes of forest.
Apart from this, 13 leopards have died in Karnataka during the last six months.
However, the killing of a mother leopard and four unborn cubs in a road kill was the most gruesome incident.
Further, 8 (eight) elephants have died due to varying reasons – mostly electrocution or natural causes either in the fringes of protected areas or farmlands.
Added to this, precious 19 human lives – most of them women and a student – have died in human-wildlife conflict zones in Chamarajanagar, Kodagu, Shivamogga and other districts of Karnataka.
FEMALE LEOPARD GUNNED DOWN
The recent killing of a female leopard which was gunned down in Periyapatna on April 7, 2026 has sent shock waves in wildlife circles as it clearly shows that hunting and poaching still continues in the state.
Forests, Ecology and Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre has directed the Karnataka Forest Department to conduct a thorough investigation into the death of this 2-year-old female leopard by gunshot in the Koppa section, two kms away from the Piddhahalla State Forest in the Periyapatna area of Hunsur division, and punish the guilty.
The Forest Minister added, “This incident confirms that poaching for wildlife organs is still going on. Three bullets were found inside the leopard’s body. We have to identify and punish wildlife poachers as per the law, and take disciplinary action against the relevant patrol personnel if patrolling in this area failed, and to make the Forest Crime Control Cell more active.”
SLOTH BEAR TORTURED TO DEATH
Further, if a sloth bear was tortured and stoned to death in Kudligi, Vijaynagar district, leopards have been victims of quarry blast but most deaths have been due to road kills. It is disheartening to imagine that nowadays, predators are now being preyed upon by humans.
Near Halasagara, Kudligi, Vijaynagar district, people angered by the killing of a shepherd – a big crowd of villagers got together and entered the Gudekote forests. They caned, stoned and beat up the suspected sloth bear brutally to its death. In this region around the Gudekote sanctuary, every year, there are conflict incidents when bears come out of the PA to the surrounding villages and have attacked people resulting in injuries and deaths.
HUNTING FOR DEER
Apart from this, people transporting wildlife meat were apprehended, however, the offenders escaped. Two deer were hunted in Gundlupet buffer zone, Chamarajanagar district and people were caught while transporting it. Also, two people armed with all sorts of weapons were arrested on the fringes of Nagarhole on the suspicion that they were involved in the death of a tiger.
With the conflict raging in south interior districts of Karnataka compared to central districts or coastal districts, human loss too has been acute which has aggravated the situation especially in Chamarajanagar and Kodagu districts. Apart from this, frontline forest staff of Karnataka too have borne the brunt of rising human-wildlife conflict with a few personnel sustaining injuries as also dying in the line of duty.
TOTAL WILDLIFE DEATHS/CAPTURES
(Oct 2025 to April 10, 2026)
TIGER DEATHS = 15
TIGER CAPTURES = 28
LEOPARD DEATHS = 13 + 4 cubs
LEOPARD CAPTURES = 4
INDIAN GAUR DEATHS = 3
ELEPHANT DEATHS = 8
ELEPHANT CAPTURES = 5
SLOTH BEAR DEATH= 1
SLOTH BEAR CAPTURES = 3+2 cubs
HUMAN DEATHS = 19
HUMAN INJURIES = 4
Complete Data of Wildlife Deaths & Captures, Human deaths in Karnataka
As per data available, during Oct 2025-April 10th, 2026 – wildlife deaths occurred due to poisoning, snaring and death of cubs in captivity and many other reasons.
- 15 tigers died due to poisoning, snaring, electrocution, etc
- Captured tiger cubs have died in captivity
- 28 tigers and tiger cubs were captured
- 13 leopards died due to road kills, snaring, blasting & poisoning
- Four unborn leopard cubs dead in road kill
- Eight elephants died due to electrocution, drowning, natural causes.
- Five elephants (maybe more) have been captured.
- 1 sloth bear was killed by people
- 3 bears and 2 cubs were captured
- Three gaurs died due to electrocution and accidents.
- 19 people died and 4 were hurt due to tiger, elephant and leopard attacks.
Descriptive Data on wildlife killings and human deaths that occurred between October 2025-Feb 20, 2026, open the below link for more details:
DETAILS OF HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT DEATHS
(from Feb 21 to April 10, 2026)
Feb 22, 2026: A two-year-old leopard died fighting for its life when it was caught in a fence laid by a farmer and it got stuck so brutally that it didn’t survive in Nilugal village, Davangere taluk, Davangere district.
Feb 22, 2026: Boramma, a woman labourer from Haveri district was killed at Hunesahalli village in Chikkamagaluru district in a wild elephant attack.
Feb 26, 2026: A two-year-old leopard died in the aftermath of its capture in Dindahalli village, Shikaripura taluk of Shivamogga district.
Feb 27, 2026: Transporters of wildlife meat was apprehended in Thithimathi forests, Virajpet forest division, Kodagu district, however the offenders managed to escape.
Feb 28, 2026: Pooja, a 17-year-old student died in an elephant attack at Bettathoor in Madikeri taluk, Kodagu district.
CONFLICT INCIDENTS IN MARCH, 2026
Mar 1, 2026: A wild elephant was captured in B V Halli village in Channapatna taluk of Bengaluru South district.
Mar 1, 2026: A young leopard was found dead in Chennadevyanapura near Nanjangud, Mysuru district.
Mar 2, 2026: 45- year-old Obayya, a shepherd who was grazing his goats was killed by a sloth bear in Kudligi taluk of Vijayanagara district.
Mar 2, 2026: Angered by the death of Obayya, villagers brutally killed the sloth bear by entering the Gudekote forests and they clubbed, stoned and beat the sloth bear with sticks to death.
Mar 5, 2026: A three-year-old female leopard was captured and caged in Nittur, Halaguru, Malvalli range, Mandya forest division.
Mar 9, 2026: Jalajakshi, a 55-year-old woman was killed in Valnoor, Kushalnagar taluk, Kodagu district in an elephant attack.
Mar 13, 2026: Two deer killed by hunters and the deer meat was recovered during transportation by poachers in Gundlupet buffer zone.
Mar 13, 2026: A wild elephant was captured in Kodagu district that was involved in attacks on humans for some months.
Mar 14, 2026: A female leopard with four cubs (on the verge of delivery) was killed in a road kill near Anjanapura Lake, NICE Road, Bannerghatta-Kanakapura exit, Kaggalipura Range, Bengaluru South district.
Mar 17, 2026: A young tiger was electrocuted at Padaguru village, Gundlupet buffer zone, Chamarajanagar district when the tiger entered a farm which was surrounded by an illegal electric fence.
Mar 22, 2026: A wild elephant was captured in Virajpet taluk of Kodagu district and is said to have been involved in conflicts.
Mar 23, 2026: A tiger was captured in Berambadi, Gundlupet taluk, Chamarajanagar district as it was said to have been involved in attacks on humans.
Mar 23, 2026: A leopard was found dead at Adhaganti-Tadhsanahalli village, Shiralkoppa, Shikaripura taluk, Shivamogga district and it is suspected to have died in conflict with humans.
Mar 24, 2026: A highly decomposed body of a tiger was found in Maddur range of Bandipur tiger reserve by a routine patrolling staff. Investigations are on.
Mar 25, 2026: One mother sloth bear plus two cubs was caged in Vidyanagar township, Ballari district and it was done to prevent any conflicts in this region. A remote-controlled cage was used to capture the radio-collared mother bear with its cubs.
Mar 26, 2026: A tiger was captured at Berambadi village, Gundlupet taluk of Chamarajanagar district.
Mar 27, 2026: A male tiger was snared near Metikuppe range at Nagarhole Tiger Reserve and it died as farmers had installed snares for capturing wildlife.
Mar 29, 2026: A sloth bear was captured in Channapatna taluk on the Kodanballi-Singarajpura Road where it had attacked a biker and followed a carrier van. Later, the bear was captured by unruly crowds.
Mar 30, 2026: A collared sloth bear was captured at JSW airport in Ballari district and translocated to Bhadra Tiger Reserve.
CONFLICT INCIDENTS IN APRIL, 2026
April 4, 2026: Two people were arrested on the fringes of Nagarhole Tiger Reserve and they were armed with two guns, sickles, machetes, snaring wires and a cylinder. They were suspected to have been involved in a tiger’s death.
April 7, 2026: A two-year-old female leopard was found shot dead in the Koppa section of Periyapatna falling within the Hunsur forest division. Its body was riddled with three bullets.
April 8, 2026: Mokalmadu Rathu, 56-year-old coffee planter died in an attack by a wild elephant inside a coffee estate in Kaimani village, Ponnampete taluk, Kodagu district.
April 9, 2026: A wild elephant was found dead near Bommasandra, Sangama Range, Cauvery Sanctuary, the reason cited are – maybe, natural causes.
DARKEST MONTHS FOR WILDLIFE CONSERVATION
The months of February-March-April 2026 has been the darkest months for the conservation of wildlife as in February-March alone – SIX leopards died.
However, on March 15, 2026, one mother leopard and four unborn cubs died in a road kill on NICE Road, while other reasons for leopard deaths were due to mine blasts, conflicts and hunting.
Further, in the last two months, three tigers were killed – one was electrocuted, one was snared, and the third tiger – its decomposed carcass was discovered after many days.
TIP OF THE ICEBERG
The Data of Wildlife Deaths as collated by this reporter maybe, just the tip of the iceberg as wildlife activists and naturalists from districts that have tiger reserves, national parks and sanctuaries cite more deaths of elephants and leopards and other wildlife. However, since there is no proof of evidence or any pictures of dead animals with dates and coordinates, their numbers have not been included.
Looking at the figures of rising deaths of humans and big cats and jumbos, it seems a highly concerted action is needed involving all the stakeholders, otherwise, a day will come when people and especially farmers will scream for death to tigers, leopards and elephants as people especially labourers and farm workers are caught in the escalating conflict in south interior, central district and Malnad districts of Karnataka.